Nico Young just ran a 3:57 mile at 7k feet, conversion? 3:48.71!!!

It's not because he's used to altitude, it's because for some athletes, raw speed is the limiting factor over aerobic ability.

John Wesley

I think differently

That was Keino's best day ever

he ran the event many many times and was never near 3:33.x let alone 3:32

It's just not so...sorry

there is zero data to support anything faster than that he actually ran

Unless you are giving away seconds today to a completely all his life Alt adjusted athlete

In fact? You know how many times he beat Ryun?

Ever? Had that race been at Sea Level? He wouldnt have beat him that day either.

I’d put my money on Graham Blanks. He smoked everyone last few months and looks to be gaining confidence. Plus he’s going to be “all in” on the 5k this season as he is one of the 3 Americans with the Olympic standard

That was as at 18 years and 2 months old. In old school spikes.

Nico’s senior-age (22?) now.

Oversized track.

Once you're getting close to 3:26 you're up against more physiological limitations that are not contingent on altitude

You guys remember when OAC had like 6 guys under 4 at altitude last year in training? Probably at like 2k lower elevation, Nuguse ran 3:57 I think, and he ran 3:47i a bit later, and Hoare and Romo were both around 3:50. Hoare had been living at altitude for a couple years at that point too. Time trial at 5k feet vs a race at 7k feet, plus Nico was WAY ahead of 2nd.

I don't know if Nico is really gonna be able to hold 57s (though I hope he gives it a shot soon), but I think this points to him being able to hold 60s for a lot longer than a mile. 7:37 3k with a huge kick pointed to a faster time, but 7:30 seems a whole lot more realistic now.

Agreed. Nico young can’t run 3:48. I hope he can but living at altitude relatively full time has to impact what someone’s conversion really is.

Please stop. There is some validity to what you assert but you spoil it with ignorance. Of course his habituation to high altitude provides mitigation in relation to the deleterious impact of the thinner air. Surely you can be educated about this. Adaptation occurs to some degree, just as with heat.

Gotta Love the long term plan of Mike Smith for Nico and what he has him doing indoors. Same for the Sahlmans and how he has them running the 400. Don't be scared to be different. But with Nico, this is translating to some excellent time trialing and no one can argue against that. This result is awesome! But can he do it when racing in trials or the last lap of championship races? Can he change gears when he has to or does he even have it in him to do so? And don't get me wrong....I'm a big Newbury Park fan. Time trialing and racing are 2 different things. Especially when you get multiple athletes with similar abilities occupying the same space.

Indeed. I think many will have a hard time getting over that performance for likely 3 reasons:

1. Difference in age and tech you pointed out.

2. Bias to our time periods and age at witnessing of performance as well as relative outlier to precursors.

3. German was a man of glass. That’s probably not true, yet as someone with far less talent and similar frustrations, there is always that “what if?” Yes it’s true for everyone, yet when you see massive success in limited time and input, it is often inevitable to expect that further aerobic development and strength will lead to even greater performances. Even if you put a “light” ceiling on German, it is easy to picture him running high 3:40s for the mile when he suited skillset seemed to reflect highest success in the 3k-5k range. Performances just keep perking up these days, yet it’s easy to imagine that had the health been figured out and properly strung together he is a sub 7:30 and sub 12:50 guy. You can never truly forecast response though, and that just continues to play intro he myth of “what if?”

It seems to vary somewhat from runner to runner, but I remember people were skeptical of Christian Soratos back when he ran his altitude mile, and that dude backed it up at NCAA's

Agreed. Has this really not been studied by now?

And you people are morans

I guess his plan didn’t include Nico running well in cross country. Changing gears will come from improved fitness and why is he having NXN champions running 400s? Having a 5/10K run a 1500m is not revolutionary and most coaches can handle having multiple good athletes.

You’re gushing over nothing at all.

At the end of his injury-riddled college career, he went to Europe and promptly ran 3:34, which is equivalent to a 3:51-52 mile.

Thank you for remembering and pointing out that Nico has developed a good kick . . . as his 27.+/200 closer at BU last month attests.

Galen Rupp didn't have a kick for many years . . . until he did.

And now Nico . . . who looks like he's become the complete package as a distance runner.

Smith is very long term in his plans and if an athlete is patient it pays off. aside from Nico, another big story last night was Maggi Cogdon now first in the nation in the mile. her progression since coming to NAU has risen every year.

and Theo Quax, who ran a 4:03 mile last night and he's not really a miler. he's a mid distance guy, always has been. but there he is crushing it last night. good to mix it up and try different things occasionally.

congratulations on a good run Nico.

Kip Keino ran 3:53 in 1966 on a dirt track at similar altitude without super shoes, to put this in perspective.